Evan Hill, an Al Jazeera English online producer, offered some direction for balanced coverage. "For news from #Mali follow @presidencemali and @martinvogl," he tweeted. Martin Vogl, a Bamako-based freelance journalist, was reporting for the BBC and other news outlets and became an authoritative source for international media.

(Reuters) - Jets carrying West African presidents for a meeting with Mali's new military leaders were forced to turn back mid-flight on Thursday after hundreds of supporters of last week's coup invaded Bamako's main runway.

An official from regional bloc ECOWAS said the meeting, aimed at pressuring coup leaders to swiftly restore constitutional rule after they ousted President Amadou Toumani Toure, could be rescheduled for Friday if security allowed.

"It was called off after the junta allowed demonstrators onto the tarmac," the official said, asking not to be named. "Understandably this created a security scare forcing the heads of state to suspend their arrival."

african music has become my favorite kind lately, though i'm not sure exactly how this happened

― Fozzy Osbourne (contenderizer), Tuesday, March 20, 2012 4:

I've been meaning to post in this thread for a while cuz I'm looking for expert advice and pointers. Help me out, y'all! I love a lot of African music, but am terribly ignorant about it, by and large. I think some of the first contemporary African music I heard and loved (after comps like Indestructible Beat of Soweto in the 80s) were the Ali Farka Toure albums Rhe River and The Source, back in the early 90s. I didn't, however, like the Ry Cooder-produced follow, up, Talking Timbuktu, so I kind of lost the thread at that point.

In 2001 I was blown away by Konono No. 1's Congotronics LP. Loved the thick, raw, distorted sound of it, both propulsive and hypnotic. That got me looking for similar stuff, and though I haven't found a ton of it, I have in recent years liked Moa Anbessa, Getachew Mekuria's collaborative album with Dutch postpunk group The Ex (honestly one of my favorite albums of the last decade), albums by Group Doueh and others on Sublime Frequencies, and some of the contemporary African music that labels like Sahel and Mississippi Records have been releasing recently: for instance Music from Saharan Cell Phones and Agali Ag Amoumime's Takamba. Ideally stuff that's a bit rough around the edges, not too heavily gentrified. In defense of that cell phone comp:

If you liked Konono No. 1, dig up a copy of the Maleem Mahmoud Ghania album Trance of Seven Colors, with Pharoah Sanders, from 1994. Out of print, but totally worth a download. Buzzing, bass-heavy roars and clatter from the Gnawa musicians, with Sanders absolutely ripping his horn apart over the top of it all.

In his first and only promotional event within America to date, Mr Koray will be visiting Aquarius HQ to meet fans, and sign copies of his recent Sublime Frequencies release Meçhul – Singles & Rarities.

If you liked Konono No. 1, dig up a copy of the Maleem Mahmoud Ghania album Trance of Seven Colors, with Pharoah Sanders, from 1994. Out of print, but totally worth a download. Buzzing, bass-heavy roars and clatter from the Gnawa musicians, with Sanders absolutely ripping his horn apart over the top of it all.

I once emailed Sublime frequencies folks about getting their acts to come through my neck of the woods, and they emailed back that they were trying, or something like that--but none of 'em ever do. Wah wah wah. :(

This is as good a thread as any to rep for the new release by my favorite "psychedelic Macedonian" band, The Reptile Palace Orchestra. (They're from Madison, Wisconsin, hence the pun in the title Songs and Dances of Madisonia. Fans of, say, Natacha Atlas, may enjoy this.

The imposition of Sharia has worried analysts and country watchers. Besides Timbuktu, the Ansar Dine faction is accused of destroying bars in Gao and Kidal, and of forcing shopkeepers there to take down pictures of unveiled women.

By chance, Khaira Arby was at work in a Bamako recording studio when the news broke that a coup was in progress, in the streets right outside the door. No stranger to socio-political issues, Khaira Arby was eager to work on a new song to talk about what was going on. Together with two other internationally recognized Malian music stars, Vieux Farka Toure and Bassekou Kouyate ( as well as the studio team, the Mali Allstars, put together by producer Joe Conte), this new plea for peace was born.

So I went to an event last night at the Bati Restaurant & Lounge honoring Ethiopian singer Bezawork Asfaw. Had never heard of her before, but am now eager to learn more. Plus I discovered that Ethiopian great Mahmoud Ahmed lives near me, and that Bati apparently has a great band on Friday and Saturday nights, often with a woman singer.

It's so sad. I have never been there, but I met some Malians when the country was showcased at the Smithsonian Folklife festival in Washington some years back, and I have seen and heard so much great music from there. Between the militant Tuaregs back from Libya in the North to the military coup in the South, it just seems like well-armed troublemakers are brutally running the place now.

If you liked Konono No. 1, dig up a copy of the Maleem Mahmoud Ghania album Trance of Seven Colors, with Pharoah Sanders, from 1994. Out of print, but totally worth a download. Buzzing, bass-heavy roars and clatter from the Gnawa musicians, with Sanders absolutely ripping his horn apart over the top of it all.

not sure I really understood the point of that piece? tonally, they sound really pissed, but the point seems to be "music journalists should talk about Tinariwen's political context better." that's fine, but i agree that they should call out examples if they want to make their point clear.

the Nabay EP on spotify is pretty good. sort of a melange of a super laid back Fela vocals (political talk with trademark female singer backing chorus), slower Shangaan music, and then the last track is like an updated Juju-style King Sunny Ade.

Awwww, I was gonna go to this:Unfortunately, due to unavoidable challenges, we have had to cancel the Wednesday, April 11 Cheikh Lo concert. We remain hopeful that we will be able to bring Mr. Lo and his band back to the area in the near future.

Nice interview piece in the NY Times with Amadou & Mariam. Cynical me assumed that the American indie-rockers on the album were chosen only for marketing purposes. In fact, while they did consciously decide to include American musicians to raise their profile here, they picked musicians they had been on bills with and who mostly had some familiarity and interest in playing with them. The album was originally supposed to be a double cd, with one disc with the Americans, and one all-African one, but the decision was ultimately made to combine them. I still need to listen to the album some more. Just listened to it once.